A Beowulf cluster is a

computer cluster A computer cluster is a set of computers that work together so that they can be viewed as a single system. Unlike grid computers, computer clusters have each node set to perform the same task, controlled and scheduled by software. The newes ...

of normally identical, commodity-grade computers networked into a small

local area network A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, campus, or building, and has its network equipment and interconnects locally managed. LANs facilitate the distribution of da ...

with libraries and programs installed that allow processing to be shared among them. The result is a high-performance

parallel computing Parallel computing is a type of computing, computation in which many calculations or Process (computing), processes are carried out simultaneously. Large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which can then be solved at the same time. ...

cluster from inexpensive

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

hardware.

Original

Beowulf originally referred to a specific computer built in 1994 by Thomas Sterling and Donald Becker at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

. They named it after the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

epic poem, '' Beowulf''.

Systems

No particular piece of software defines a cluster as a Beowulf. Typically only

free and open source software Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a Software license, license that grants users the right to use, modify, and distribute the software modified or not to everyone free of charge. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term ...

is used, both to save cost and to allow customization. Most Beowulf clusters run a

Unix-like A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X, *nix or *NIX) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Uni ...

operating system, such as

BSD The Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), also known as Berkeley Unix or BSD Unix, is a discontinued Unix operating system developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California, Berkeley, beginni ...

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

, or Solaris. Commonly used parallel processing libraries include

Message Passing Interface The Message Passing Interface (MPI) is a portable message-passing standard designed to function on parallel computing architectures. The MPI standard defines the syntax and semantics of library routines that are useful to a wide range of use ...

(MPI) and Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM). Both of these permit the programmer to divide a task among a group of networked computers, and collect the results of processing. Examples of MPI software include Open MPI or MPICH. There are additional MPI implementations available. Beowulf systems operate worldwide, chiefly in support of

scientific computing Computational science, also known as scientific computing, technical computing or scientific computation (SC), is a division of science, and more specifically the Computer Sciences, which uses advanced computing capabilities to understand and s ...

. Since 2017, every system on the

Top500 The TOP500 project ranks and details the 500 most powerful non-distributed computing, distributed computer systems in the world. The project was started in 1993 and publishes an updated list of the supercomputers twice a year. The first of these ...

list of the world's fastest supercomputers has used Beowulf software methods and a

operating system. At this level, however, most are by no means just assemblages of commodity hardware; custom design work is often required for the nodes (often blade servers), the networking, and the cooling systems.

Development

A description of the Beowulf cluster, from the original "how-to", which was published by Jacek Radajewski and Douglas Eadline under the Linux Documentation Project in 1998:

Operating systems

a number of

Linux distribution A Linux distribution, often abbreviated as distro, is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro—if distributed on its own—is oft ...

s, and at least one

, are designed for building Beowulf clusters. These include: * MOSIX, geared toward computationally intensive, IO-low applications * Rocks Cluster Distribution, latest 2017 *

DragonFly BSD DragonFly BSD is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system forked from FreeBSD 4.8. Matthew Dillon, an Amiga developer in the late 1980s and early 1990s and FreeBSD developer between 1994 and 2003, began working on DragonFly BSD in ...

OS, latest 2022 * Quantian OS latest 2006, a live DVD with scientific applications, remastered from Knoppix * Kentucky Linux Athlon Testbed, physical installation at University of Kentucky The following are no longer maintained: * Kerrighed (EOL: 2013) * OpenMosix (EOL: 2008), forked from MOSIX * ClusterKnoppix OS, forked from Knoppix OS, forked from OpenMosix * PelicanHPC OS latest 2016, based on Debian Live A cluster can be set up by using Knoppix bootable CDs in combination with OpenMosix. The computers will automatically link together, without need for complex configurations, to form a Beowulf cluster using all CPUs and RAM in the cluster. A Beowulf cluster is scalable to a nearly unlimited number of computers, limited only by the overhead of the network. Provisioning of operating systems and other software for a Beowulf Cluster can be automated using software, such as Open Source Cluster Application Resources. OSCAR installs on top of a standard installation of a supported Linux distribution on a cluster's head node.

References

Bibliography

* ''Beowulf Cluster Computing With Windows'' by Thomas Lawrence Sterling 2001 MIT Press * ''Beowulf Cluster Computing With Linux'' by Thomas Lawrence Sterling 2001 MIT Press

External links

The Beowulf Cluster Site

A detailed description of building a Beowulf cluster
{{Authority control Cluster computing Parallel computing Job scheduling NASA spin-off technologies Unix software